North Orchard-Delong
Cooperative Preschool

Currently enrolling in the 3s/4s class and PreK for the 2018-2019 school year!

2s/3s class is full with a waitlist.

We are NOD

Registration is still open for the 2018-2019 school year.

For Enrollment or Membership Questions e-mail us at: northorchardmembership@gmail.com. You may also leave a message on our answering service by calling 253-620-4004. Our membership chairperson will return your call with in 1-2 business days. We look forward to meeting you!

Current Families

Who is NOD?

What is a cooperative preschool?

A cooperative preschool is a parent/child participation program. Parents enroll in a parent education program at Bates Technical College, and enroll their child in the cooperative preschool of their choice. While parents are enrolled in the program, they earn college credit in a continuing education program. (You do not have to be a college student to enroll your child at NOD!)

Bates-trained cooperative preschool teachers plan an enriched, fun and challenging curriculum for the children. The parents’ job is to help conduct the non-profit business of the preschool and assist in the classroom on a rotational basis as part of the laboratory experience.

We learn in a Reggio inspired classroom

The city Reggio Emilia in Italy is recognized worldwide for its innovative approach to education. Its signature educational philosophy has become known as the Reggio Emilia Approach, one which many preschool programs around the world have adopted.

The Reggio Emilia philosophy is based upon the following set of principles:

Children must have some control over the direction of their learning;

Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing;

Children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that children must be allowed to explore and

Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.

The Reggio Emilia approach to teaching young children puts the natural development of children as well as the close relationships that they share with their environment at the center of its philosophy. The foundation of the Reggio Emilia approach lies in its unique view of the child. In this approach, there is a belief that children have rights and should be given opportunities to develop their potential.

“Influenced by this belief, the child is beheld as beautiful, powerful,
competent, creative, curious, and full of potential and ambitious desires.”

The child is also viewed as being an active constructor of knowledge. Rather than being seen as the target of instruction, children are seen as having the active role of an apprentice. This role also extends to that of a researcher. Much of the instruction at Reggio Emilia schools takes place in the form of projects where they have opportunities to explore, observe, hypothesize, question, and discuss to clarify their understanding. Children are also viewed as social beings and a focus is made on the child in relation to other children, the family, the teachers, and the community rather than on each child in isolation.